Replicable Practices: Special Education

Showing posts with label Special Education. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

[Replicable Practices] Tablet computers and special applications: Autism

As I was settling into my morning school routine I overheard a couple of special education teachers discussing a story they had seen on the CBS News program 60 Minutes. Their conversation centered upon how autistic students can (through the use of Apps and iPad), communicate their wants or needs to teachers, parents and friends. In other words a possible solution to give students with severe autism the ability to express themselves.

Apple iPad 2

CBC Health News: Autism: Making sense of a confusing world
Last Updated: Friday, September 17, 2010 | 12:25 PM ET

CBS 60 Minutes: Apps for Autism: Communicating on the iPad
(Watch the Segment)
October 23, 2011 7:10 PM

Autism Speaks - It's time to listen: Autism Apps

Sunday, April 3, 2011

[Replicable Practices] EduGains.ca

EduGains.ca

UPDATE: This website will be retired on June 30, 2021and is no longer being updated. Edugains resources can continue to be found by signing into eCommunity Ontario and Curriculum and Resources website.

EduGains is another amazing source and collection of ideas to create and sustain Replicable Practices. I encourage all my readers to explore the Differentiated Instruction and Literacy sections.

Differentiated Instruction

Literacy

Saturday, March 19, 2011

[Replicable Practices] YouTube: Test Taking Strategies

An expectation in the General Learning Strategies (GLE) class is to model test taking techniques. I have found the Paul Devoto's YouTube Channel that covers this topic.

A description Paul has wrote for his Test-Taking Strategy Videos:

This series shares the best strategies for improving your score on multiple-choice tests. The episodes are produced by Paul Devoto and hosted by math teachers at Jonas Salk High-Tech Academy middle school in Sacramento, CA

Monday, August 2, 2010

[Replicable Practices] The Sixth Sense!

Nature Internationally Weekly Journal of Science

An interesting article published by Nature Publishing Group (C) 2006 authored by Nature's senior European correspondent Alison Abbot. The article was originally found as a news feature in Nature|Vol 442|13 July 2006.

Implants in the brain could one day help paralyzed people move robotic arms and legs. But first, scientists need to work out ow our brains know where our limbs are...

A PDF file of this news feature can be found buy following In Search of the Sixth Sense.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

[Replicable Practices] The power of an Apple iPhone and iPad to transform classrooms!

Apple iPad

For a long time whenever anyone mentioned an Apple computer I immediately thought of two things, graphic designers and classrooms. I suppose one reason is that Apple themselves marketed and aligned their products for a particular market. Secondly it may have been the ease of use and availability that guided Apple computers into those segments.This thought had me thinking of the new Apples products such as the iPhone and iPad and how they could potentially transformation classrooms.

Google search "hand held classrooms" and at the time of this post about 2,950,000 results were found.

Here are a couple of PDF articles worth reading

Mobile Learning and Handheld Devices in the Classroom by Robby Robson, Eduworks Corporation, Corvallis, Oregon, USA.
The Handheld Classroom: Educational Implications of Mobile Computing by Mark Finn and Natalie Vandenham from the Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and Society.

YouTube search "hand held classrooms" and at the time of this post about 302 videos resulted plus 567 videos under the search "classrooms of the future" and "Ipad in the classroom".

This shift is going to happen.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

[Replicable Practices] Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC)

Identification, Placement, and Review Committee

The (IPRC) is created under the authority of Ontario Regulation 181/98, which provides information about the Identification, Placement, and Review Committee (IPRC). The Education Act requires all publicly funded school boards to provide special education programs and services to students who have been identified as exceptional pupils.

Written request from a student's parent(s)/guardian(s) or the principal of the school must refer the student to an IPRC. The parent(s)/guardian(s), as well as a student who is sixteen years of age or older, have the right to attend the IPRC meeting and may request that the IPRC discuss potential programs that would meet the student's needs.
The IPRC will decide whether the student is an exceptional pupil and, if so, what type of educational placement is appropriate. On the basis of these discussions, the IPRC can recommend the special education programs and/or services that it considers to be appropriate for the student.

A regular class with indirect support
A regular class with resource assistance
A regular class with withdrawal assistance
A special education class with partial integration
A full-time special education class

Monday, May 10, 2010

[Replicable Practices] SEAC (Special Education Advisory Committees)

Being armed with values and knowledge can be considered an important building block in the foundation of replicable practices. The Special Education Advisory Committees website is a site filled with behind the scenes information that can come in handy when discussing issues surrounding students with special needs.

Unit 1: An Historical Overview of Special Education in Ontario
Unit 2: Roles and Responsibilities
Unit 3: Responsibilities of School Boards and Their Special Education Advisory Committees (SEACs)
Unit 4: Legislation, Regulations, and Policy Documents Related to Special Education
Unit 5: Education Funding

Friday, May 7, 2010